The Effect of Anti-Immigrant Discourses on Voter Behaviors in the Context of Critical Discourse Analysis: The Case of the Italian League Party

Year 2023, , 657 - 678, 30.12.2023

Salih Turgay

https://doi.org/10.17752/guvenlikstrtj.1338324

Abstract

After the end of the Cold War, the increasing migration movements have deeply affected Italy, which is on the most active migration route between Africa and Europe. Intensive migration movements towards Italy, which is both a transit and a destination country, have been more politicized day by day and become one of the most controversial issues on the political plane. While regionalism was at the center of the political discourse of the farright League Party, which has managed to become an important actor in the Italian political system since its establishment until the 2000s, anti-immigration began to characterize the party’s general political line and ideological stance as of the 2000s. This study discusses the metaphors through which the League Party carries out its anti-immigration discourses and the reflections of these discourses on the Italian general elections and European Parliament elections. It tries to make sense of the metaphors that the actors of the League Party brought to the forefront and the relationship between their communication strategies, their election posters, and these metaphors by using the critical discourse analysis method. In this sense, the main purpose of the study is to reveal whether the anti-immigrant discourse of the actors of the League Party is a variable that affects the party’s votes. According to the findings of the study, anti-migration discourse reflects positively on the election results in times when immigrants occupy the public agenda due to factors such as crime rates and cultural differences or when mass migration movements increase the sensitivity level of society. However, the study also shows that anti-immigration rhetoric does not perform the expected effect on voters’ behaviour in times when economic and social problems diverge.

Keywords

Italy, Immigration, Invasion, League Party, Irregular Immigration

Eleştirel Söylem Analizi Bağlamında Göçmen Karşıtı Söylemlerin Seçmen Davranışları Üzerindeki Etkisi: İtalya Lig Partisi Örneği

Abstract

Soğuk Savaş’ın sona ermesinin ardından her geçen gün artış gösteren göç hareketleri Afrika ile Avrupa kıtaları arasındaki en aktif göç rotası üzerinde yer alan İtalya’yı derinden etkilemiştir. Gerek transit gerekse hedef ülke konumunda olan İtalya’ya yönelik yoğun göç hareketleri her gecen gün daha da siyasallaştırılmış ve politik düzlemin en tartışmalı konuları arasına girmiştir. Öte yandan kurulduğu yıldan itibaren İtalya siyasal sisteminde önemli bir aktör olmayı başaran aşırı sağcı Lig Partisi’nin politik söyleminin merkezinde 2000’li yıllara kadar bölgeselcilik bulunmaktayken, 2000’li yıllar itibariyle göç karşıtlığı, partinin genel siyasi çizgisini ve ideolojik duruşunu karakterize etmeye başlamıştır. Çalışmada Lig Partisi’nin göç karşıtı söylemlerini hangi metaforlar üzerinden gerçekleştirdiği ve bu söylemlerin İtalya genel seçimleri ile Avrupa Parlamentosu seçimlerine yansımaları ele alınmıştır. Lig Partisi aktörlerinin hangi metaforları ön plana çıkardıkları, iletişim stratejileri ve seçim afişlerinin bu metaforlar ile ilişkisi eleştirel söylem analizi yöntemi ile incelenmeye çalışılmıştır. Bu anlamda çalışmanın temel amacı, Lig Partisi aktörlerinin göçmen karşıtı söylemlerinin partinin oy oranlarını etkileyen bir değişken olup olmadığını ortaya koymaktır. Elde edilen verilere göre, suç oranları ve kültürel farklılıklar gibi sebeplerle veya kitlesel göç hareketlerinin toplumun duyarlılık düzeyini artırdığı dönemlerde, göç karşıtı söylemin seçim sonuçlarına olumlu bir şekilde yansıdığı gözlemlenmektedir. Ancak ekonomik ve toplumsal sorunların farklılaştığı dönemlerde göç karşıtı söylem, seçmen davranışları üzerinde beklenen etkiyi göstermemektedir.

Keywords

İtalya, Göç, İstila, Lig Partisi, Düzensiz Göç

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